How to say "sheikh, elder" in Arabic
New wordMeaningsheikh, elder
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
شَيْخ
shaykhשיח'
شيخ
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
שייח'
sheikhشِيخ
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ش-ي-خLearn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
شَيْخ
shēkhשיח'Levantine monophthongizes ay → ē: shēkh, not shaykh.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
شَيْخ
shēkhשיח'Cairo, too, flattens ay to ē: shēkh.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
شِيخ
shīkhשיח'Darija turns ay into ī: shīkh.
In a phrase
شَيْخ الْجَامِع
shaykh al-jāmiʿשיח' אל-ג'אמעthe sheikh of the mosque
Plural
شُيُوخ
shuyūkhשיוח'broken plural CuCūC